Night's Watch
Biographical Information Name: The Night's Watch Other Titles: 'The Wall '''Alegances: '''Westeros '''Lord Commander: 'Aegon Valeryon '''Head Quarters: '''The Nightfort '''Active Forts: Castle Black, Shadow Tower, East-Watch, The Nightfort, and Rimegate. Re-Activated Forts: Stonedoor, and The Torches. History The Long Night The Night's Watch is one of the oldest orders in the Seven Kingdoms, as it survived the fall of the kingdoms of the First Men, the Andal invasion, and the War of Conquest. It was founded over 7,000 years ago, at the end of the Long Night. Under cover of an endless night that lasted for a generation, the Others invaded from the Lands of Always Winter, laying waste to much of Westeros, until the Others were finally defeated by the Night's Watch at the Battle for the Dawn. After having pushed back the threat, the Wall was allegedly built by Bran the Builder in order to protect the Seven Kingdoms, should the Others ever return. During the Age of Heroes it was also recorded that the children of the forest gave the Night's Watch a hundred obsidian daggers every year. Other than the corrupting of the thirteenth Lord Commander, the "Night's King," further attacks by the Others never came, however. Instead, the most frequent attacks came from the wildlings, sometimes led by their Kings-Beyond-the-Wall, and their constant attempts at raiding in the north. Hundred Kingdoms The Night's Watch built nineteen castles along the hundred leagues of the Wall. At the zenith of its power, the Watch had seventeen of the castles manned, with over ten thousand men-at-arms between them. Castle Black alone quartered five thousand fighting men with all their horses, servants, and equipment. The highborn of the north have traditionally considered it an honor to serve on the Wall. Many younger sons of northern houses, low in the line of succession, gladly took the black. Shields of nobles from the Hundred Kingdoms of Westeros were proudly displayed in the Shieldhall at Castle Black. Little by little, the Night's Watch forgot that its main mission was not the fight against the wildlings, but against the Others. Recent Events The Wall has undergone some drastic changes with the new Lord Commander, large influxes of resources and men pour to the Wall and more keeps have been reopened- with more of the same to continue. Even the Oath itself is seeing a new approch with Brothers enjoying more freedom than ever before. The Night's Watch and The Wall will once again be an honor to serve. Military and Organisation Structure Men of the Night's Watch are divided between three different orders: the Rangers, the Builders, and the Stewards. Each order is led by its own officer, each appointed by the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch: the First Ranger, First Builder, and First Steward. * Rangers - the true warriors of the Night's Watch. While all black brothers are expected to have some basic arms training and to take up a sword in defense of the Wall itself, the Rangers are the ones who are sent on dangerous scouting expeditions beyond the Wall, to track wildlings movements. When the Watch was more numerous in past centuries they formed the core fighting group sent to destroy large wildling warbands who attempted to pass south of the Wall. * Builders - who physically maintain the structures of the Night's Watch, and repair the Wall itself. * Stewards - who provide for the day-to-day needs of the Watch: gathering, cooking, and serving food, repairing clothes and equipment, tending to the horses and messenger-ravens, and gathering firewood. By far the largest of the three orders. Each castle of the Night's Watch also has a maester assigned to it. These maesters take the oath of the Night's Watch and are considered full black brothers, but are not considered part of the three orders. Given that there were never more than nineteen castles along the Wall, there were never more than nineteen maesters in the Night's Watch at any one time. Since there are only three active castles on the Wall in modern times, there are now only three maesters in the Night's Watch at a time. Leadership The leader of the Night's Watch is the Lord Commander. Each Lord Commander serves for life, and a new Lord Commander is democratically elected by other members of the Night's Watch in a Choosing. It is unknown if there is any formal procedure to depose a Lord Commander and elect a new one, in cases where the current Lord Commander violates his oaths or is deemed medically unfit to lead, etc. Recruitment Recruiters commonly known as "Wandering Crows" travel to the cities of southern Westeros to gather up new recruits to join the Night's Watch. Recruiters are few in number, and they are not considered a separate order in the Night's Watch. Instead, they are drawn from trusted members of the three orders, often those who can no longer fight well due to injuries but who can still travel. Defences The Watch employs a variety of defenses in order to defend the Wall. The top of the Wall is dug out in a trench-like manner to give protection from the weather. Several outlets and wooden pillboxes give archers a way to fire on enemies below. A special pulley system allows archers to hang over the edge of the Wall to fire on enemies attempting to climb it. Other defenses includes ramps for barrels of burning oil, or barrels filled with ice and stone, to drop on attackers. The Watch also have ballistae and catapults strong enough to kill giants. Perhaps the most impressive, and frighteningly effective, defense mechanism is the "scythe", a massive metal anchor attached to the end of a huge chain. When released, the scythe will run along the Wall at a tremendous speed, brutally mauling anyone within its swinging arch. The physical nature of the Wall is its greatest defense, regardless of how many men garrison it. The Wall is too tall and thick to simply smash through. The height of the Wall itself serves as its strongest defense. Normal archers simply cannot fire all the way to the top. Considering the wildlings don't possess much in the way of advanced weaponry like ballistae, only giants armed with huge bows have any feasible chance at hitting defenders on the top (and the Watch has not seen giants in thousands of years). The Wall also seems to "defend itself" by loosening large sheets of ice, if climbers are attempting to scale it: even attempting to climb an undefended section of the Wall is very dangerous.